This is mainly to place my humble workshop on the LJ map rather than trying to show it off – I hope to have a genuinely decent shop in a couple of years, but renovating the house takes priority.

My shop is far from where I want it to be. See my Unique Features (Issues?) of my Workshop series for more details. I have a few relatively advanced machines and practically zero workshop furniture. I still need to make cabinets, benches, bins, and all the other things we want in our shops. So far I have only set up a lumber rack. I’m thinking seriously of making my workbench from this tree that I slabbed about 5 months ago.

A few months ago I created my drying room and I’m seriously hoping that some of the slabs are ready for using when I get home again. I still have a lot of logs to be slabbed, but they will have to wait in the carport until all the other priorities are dealt with.

Zac, I see quite a bit of potential in the space that you have available. It has quite a bit of headroom and the wide door and windows let in an abundance of natural light. And, of course, it looks like you have plenty of horsepower in there as well. :)

Keep us posted on your updates. It will be fun to watch your shop’s evolution.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

It may look like I only have 1 horsepower, but this old boy is actually retired. We took him in to give him the pleasant “golden years” he deserves. He’s only a little pony anyway so he would only be a 3/4 hp. The other 3 we have are definitely up for the task though. We also have electricity Div – 3 phase at that !! (one horse per phase ??)

Div I have a Stihl MS460 with a 75cm bar – the max. length recommended for that machine. Onto that I clamp a Alaskan jig I made myself. Check out this posting and this album where I describe the rig. I’d love to have a bandsaw mill, but that isn’t in the budget yet.

Hey Zac,My Sis also lives in Natal; it will be nice to know where your place is. Ja, electricity, that necessary evil! I also have 3 phase here but it is costing me plenty. One of my main missions is to get myself off the grid…Self-sufficiency, independence, sustainability, a hatred of window envelopes…I will get there.That 460 is a powerful machine…I worked with a self built Alaskan mill for a long time. When you are ready for a band saw mill, speak to me. I built mine myself, not so hard, MUCH cheaper than a commercial one, and better…600mm wide slabs…3mm thick veneers, anything in between

-- Div @ the bottom end of Africa. "A woodworker's sharpest tool should be his mind."

Div - If you look at my marker on the Google map, it is not far off exact. Anytime you’re in the Richards Bay area please feel free to drop me a line and pop over for a visit. In fact, this is an open invitation to ALL LJ’s. If you want, I’ll PM you my contact details. My wife & I decided to buy this place for the same reason as your mission. We have already divorced ourselves from the Municipality – no services or water from them, and no by-laws to abide by. No building approvals required, no worries about garbage workers strikes etc.. We are less than 10 km out of town, so access to shops, library etc. is still easy. Our next step will be to divorce Eskom, & then the oil companies. Once that is sorted, we’ll open a training school to teach others to do the same. I will definitely be calling on you for the bandsaw mill ideas when I get that far.

Autumn - unfortunately, I’m still Congo bound – I only get home for a couple of weeks every couple of months. I’ll post some progress pictures once I’m home again. These pics are from my collection I have with me. Knowing your fondness for reclaimed wood, I thought you would like the slabs I have. And every one of my slabs was a log destined for the dump !!!

8iowa - Being away from home, the SS restore has ground to a temporary halt. The good news is that while I’ve been away, my motor has been (I hope successfully) rewound, and probably all the parts I’ve bought will be at home when I get there. Watch for a post or two in the latter half of July.

CJ - We encourage our animals to explore and experience new stuff. Horses are genetically programmed to be skittish as they are prey animals. When I’m not working with power machines, I generally allow them access to the shop to get them accustomed to odd stuff. When the power tools are running they are barricaded out of the shop. Allowing them to experience the noisy stuff while it is quite has paid off – They don’t freak when the planer or chainsaw starts up. That’s quite important as their barn is just a few metres away.

By the way all – As Div says, the MS 460 chainsaw is a powerful machine. It was the largest I could afford at the time, & I bought it specifically for slabbing the plentiful free logs in our area. The wood I have recovered more than paid for the machine in less than a year. Not only that, but making your own wood gives you far more variety that buying from a store. You will find unique pieces that would never make it to market.